The Baltimore Ravens lost a heartbreaker to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 18 and were officially eliminated from playoff contention. Neither team played well on offense, with a combined 29 points being scored in an afternoon contest that went to overtime. Continue reading for three key takeaways from Week 18 that the Ravens should keep in mind as they head into their offseason and look to regain their footing and contend for a Super Bowl ring next season.

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Baltimore Ravens Week 18 Takeaways

1. Don't blame the defense … mostly

Baltimore’s defense played well for most of the game, although the success was no doubt helped in part by the injury to Najee Harris. It’s a lot easier to slow down Benny Snell than it is slowing down Najee Harris. Just to demonstrate how effective Baltimore was at defending the run for most of the game, the leading rusher for Pittsburgh was wide receiver Chase Claypool, who had three carries for 33 yards, and most of his carries came as end-arounds or other types of sweep runs after a pre-snap motion. None of the running backs even broke 30 yards rushing.

Even with the injury that held him out for most of the first quarter and all of the second and third quarters, Harris was the leading rusher for the Steelers among running backs, but Baltimore held him to just 28 yards on 11 carries. Snell, who was forced into action as the feature back for much of the game, only averaged a paltry 1.8 yards per carry, finishing the contest with just 22 rushing yards on 12 carries.

Baltimore's defense also held Pittsburgh's passing game in relative check, surrendering 244 yards through the air but only giving up one touchdown, while also coming away with an interception. The Ravens held the Steelers to just six points all the way until the 2:54 mark of the fourth quarter, when Pittsburgh scored its only touchdown of the day on a slant pass to Chase Claypool.

There were only two real issues with Baltimore's defense: First, they only sacked a relative immobile Ben Roethlisberger once. The other problem is that they couldn't get off the field late in the game or during overtime, allowing multiple third- and fourth-down conversions that ultimately let Pittsburgh tie the game and get into position for the game-winning field goal.

The Ravens do need to get better pressure on opposing QBs, but overall Baltimore's defense did more than enough to beat the Steelers. The defense is not the reason why Baltimore lost this game.

2. Tyler Huntley is an excellent backup, but not quite a starter

I'm not here to bash Tyler Huntley. He is a backup quarterback, forced into action against one of the top defensive units in the NFL because of Lamar Jackson's injury. Huntley did not single-handedly lose this game for the Ravens.

However, he didn't have a great performance either.

Huntley completed just a tad over 50% of his passes (16/31) for 141 yards passing. This isn't great, but could be adequate for a backup. With a strong defense and running game, this might be enough. The real problem came with his touchdown/interception ratio, because Huntley threw two picks while not throwing any touchdowns. This put Baltimore's defense in a tough spot. Huntley was also sacked three times.

The saving grace for Huntley, however, were his rushing contributions. Huntley carried the ball 12 times for 72 yards, good for an even 6.0 yards per carry. This helped to form a dynamic duo with Latavius Murray.

Although Huntley was hurt by drops at times, he also missed receivers and made bad decisions and throws as well. Huntley is by no means the only reason why the Ravens lost this Week 18 game against the Steelers, but he certainly didn't do anywhere near enough to put his team in position to win, either. Huntley's not a bad player and is adequate as a backup quarterback, but for the time being the breaks should be applied to any discussion about Huntley being a starter.

3. Latavius Murray is back

Latavius Murray had his best performance in a long time, recording 16 carries for 150 yards, good for an average of 9.4 yards per carry. Murray had two key runs as part of Baltimore's touchdown drive early in the third quarter that put them ahead by seven, including a 46-yard touchdown run.

Murray put together several quality runs as part of a 64-yard drive spanning the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter that ended with a Huntley interception.

Murray also had a few quality runs as part of Baltimore's lone drive during overtime, before the Ravens went away from the run and Pittsburgh's defense forced them to punt, which led to the game-winning field goal drive for Roethlisberger and company. Murray showed off his explosiveness, as well as his ability to earn yards after contact. Despite being relatively quiet recently, if Murray showcases this version of himself next season, he may well enjoy a career resurgence.